


All She Has

by redcandle17



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-10
Updated: 2010-02-10
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcandle17/pseuds/redcandle17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merope clings to her love for the handsome muggle Tom through her brother's jealousy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All She Has

She'll have to marry Morfin, she knows, and stay here for the rest of her life, cooking meals that are never appreciated and cleaning a house that never gets clean. Merope wishes she wasn't the last of Salazar Slytherin's line, though she knows better than to ever voice the thought aloud. Her father says they're special, superior, but Merope feels cursed.

Morfin is worse than their father in a way. Father always tells Merope she's stupid or calls her a squib; Father always hits her or puts her under painful jinxes. Father is always himself. But Morfin is different. Sometimes he helps her with spells so Father won't get mad at her when she can't do something right. Once he brought her flowers.

When Morfin's nice, Merope weakens and doesn't struggle when he takes her. She kisses him back then. But Morfin never stays nice for long. Soon he's joining Father in belittling her again or killing the harmless snakes that talk to her in the garden.

She's in the garden the first time the handsome muggle youth rides by. He's so handsome and _clean_ that even the way he sneers at her doesn't deter her from staring at him. She wishes Morfin would bathe more, that he'd let her wash his clothes, that he'd comb his hair, that his eyeballs didn't point in opposite directions. Merope knows she's not much better though. She tries to keep herself as clean as she can, but she knows she's as ugly as Morfin. It hurts when she thinks of the way she must look to the handsome muggle.

She washes her hair and brushes it that night, but the muggle doesn't pass by the next day. And Morfin only wrinkles his nose at the flowery scent of homemade shampoo that remains in her hair. He dislikes the smell enough to sleep in his own bed. Merope is relieved, even though he was nice to her today.

She makes a habit of being out in the garden every afternoon. The handsome muggle – Tom, she'd heard one of his friends call him – only comes by once every few days, but Merope is determined to be out there every day, lest she miss him. It's this steadfastness that gets her into trouble.

Morfin notices she's always outside at that time of the day so he comes out to see what she get up to. Tom rides pass them alone that day and Merope keeps her head down so Morfin won't see her look at him. She stays silent when Morfin shouts insults that only make Tom laugh and look down his nose at them.

But the next time Morfin catches her unaware and she doesn't see him watching her until Tom's beyond the horizon. He's jealous and he beats her, but Merope is strangely happy. She's never had anything for anyone to be jealous of before. Her feelings for Tom are _hers_ and Morfin can't take them away like he used to take away the small treats their mother would give her before she died.

When Morfin takes her these days, she closes her eyes and pretends he's Tom. It's all she has, so it's enough.


End file.
